New York Giants Depth Chart 2018 Giants Depth Chart

Preseason Analysis: New York Giants 2018 Starters to Make an Impact

Where do we begin here? The Giants passed on a quarterback in a quarterback heavy draft, and will ride with Eli Manning till he says its time it seems. The Giants took Saquan Barkley in the draft, who was the top prospect heading into the draft, and the hype around him is something else. Barkley will jump into a high volume role right off the bat, as the Giants have fielded one of the weaker running back cores in football the last few seasons. Wayne Gallman and Jonathan Stewart could see a few touches every now and then, but Barkley is the guy here. This Giants team has quite a bit of skill position players that have a lot of potential. Sterling Shepard and Evan Engram are two young guys that continue to build a resume for their name. Brandon Marshall wasn’t much of a success in NY, and Roger Lewis will likely see a WR3 role but won’t see a ton of value. Could Eli make a final run with this core of players? Sure thing, but time will tell on how Eli holds up and performs. Davis Webb and Kyle Lauletta are not sure things, but Lauletta might be the most accurate quarterback on this team.

It's clear that New York Giants fans would just as soon forget about the 2017 season. Neither explanations nor excuses are going to detract from a 3-13 season where nothing seemed to work. The good news is the pain can be set aside as the team begins its preparations for training camp ahead of the 2018 season. Right now, every team is tied in the standings and has an equal shot at Super Bowl Glory. Heading into the new season, the Giants have a lot of questions that need the right answers in order to right the ship. On offense, the team struggled last season, ranking 24th in team total offense. Things were even worse on the other side of the ball where the team ranked next to last in total defense, giving up an astounding 373 YPG.

Enter new Head Coach Pat Shurmur. With 27 years of coaching experience and 18 years of it at the NFL, Giants' management is clearly looking to bring discipline and structure back to a team that has had more than its fair share of off-field issues. He's a bit of a throwback to a time when the good NFL teams played good defense and ran the ball effectively to set up the passing game. Fans can expect to see exactly that as the rebuilding process begins in earnest. A look at the transaction wire indicates the team wanted to address its issues on defense. With this year's draft filled with elite talent on offense, the Giants took to free agency to add a couple of potential role players. There wasn't a lot to choose from, so the team decided to take a shot with a couple of inexperienced ex-Washington Redskins (DT A.J. Francis and S Orion Stewart) and DE Owamagbe Odighizuwa from Buffalo. They also drafted a quality Linebacker from Georgia in Lorenzo Carter and DT B.J. Hill from N.C. State, both in the third. None of these players figure to make an immediate impact, but they do bring a little more depth to a team that looked tired on the field.

The real juice came on offense through the draft. With the #2 overall pick, the Giants picked up the ultra-talented RB Saquon Barkley out of Penn State. With a great blend of size, speed and natural ability, Barkley is expected to carry a big load, opening up the passing game for Eli Manning and a terrific corps of receivers. Expectations need to be curtailed for the upcoming season. This is a legitimate rebuilding process that's going to require time. This year it was offense, and fans can expect the Giants to go heavy on defense in the next off-season. The offense should be much improved, especially with the running game. The problem is going to be defense. Short of a major trade during training camp, the defense is going to give up yards. If they expect to win games, it will most likely be by outscoring teams in high-scoring games. Prediction: If the Giants can win 6 games this year, it's progress that will bode well for next season.